Sabres launch anti-bullying campaign

by jmaloni

Press release

Tue, Mar 26th 2013 09:10 am

Awareness
efforts, events will take place throughout spring months

The
Buffalo Sabres have announced a new campaign aimed at preventing
bullying by educating and spreading awareness of its harmful effects
to children and young adults in Western New York. The campaign, which
is a partnership between the Sabres and the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children/New York Regional Office, is comprised
of a series of anti-bullying videos featuring Sabres players, and two
educational events in April and May that will further spread the
anti-bullying message of the campaign.

"In
hockey, two of the most important things to emphasize are teamwork
and good character," said Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black. "It
is our hope that, through working as a team with NCMEC/NY and school
districts throughout Western New York, we will be able to shed more
light on bullying and how to better prevent it among today's
youth."

The
anti-bullying video series will be distributed to area school
districts, including Williamsville, Orchard Park, Amherst, Lancaster,
Kenmore, Clarence and the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing
Arts, where it will be shown to students at the middle- and
high-school grade levels. The series of four videos features Sabres
goaltender Ryan Miller, forwards Pat Kaleta and Nathan Gerbe, and
defenseman Tyler Myers. School districts not included in the original
video release can request the video series by contacting Kathy Gust,
program director of the NCMEC/NY, at 716-842-6333, ext. 7021.

"We
are very excited to partner with the Buffalo Sabres on this important
initiative of bullying prevention and online safety," said Ed Suk,
executive director NCMEC/NY. "This multifaceted approach to raising
awareness is designed to reach thousands of children across the
Western New York area, providing children and the adults in their
lives with usable information and skills to prevent victimization."

The
first event supporting the campaign, "Peer Training Day," will
take place at First Niagara Center on Friday, April 12, from 9 a.m.
to 2:30 p.m. Local middle- and high-school students will spend the
day with NCMEC staff being trained as peer mentors to tackle the
major issues of bullying. The objectives of the training will be to
learn about the resources of NCMEC, provide an overview of bullying
issues in the real world and online, and to learn how to prepare and
present "NetSmartz" activities to fellow classmates at their
school.

Research
has shown that peer-to-peer teaching is one of the most effective
means for learning. The peer trainings are a teacher-guided process
that promotes skill-based learning. These activities are designed to
strengthen students' skills of decision-making, communication and
advocacy.

The
campaign's second event, "Band Against Bullying," will take
place on May 14 at the University at Buffalo's Center for the Arts,
beginning at 7 p.m. The event, hosted by Kiss 98.5 radio personality
Janet Snyder, seeks to raise
community awareness of bullying-related issues and to raise support
of anti-bullying legislation, education, and other related efforts,
through an inter-school arts competition related to the theme of
"Dignity."

Over
the past few months, each participating school has hosted band
auditions and/or competitions within their own school. These acts are
related to the theme of "Dignity" and incorporate all forms of
the arts. The final act chosen at each school will move on to the
final competition, which will be held at the event on May 14. More
details on the event can be found at www.NYBandAgainstBullying.org.